Sugar Magnolia was performed nearly 600 times by the Grateful Dead. The first performance was in June 1970, the last in the last Grateful Dead show in 1995.

The final part of the song, referred to as Sunshine Daydream, usually followed a pause of variable length. Sometimes other songs occurred during this pause, on a few occasions a number of days went past during the pause - when this happened Sunshine Daydream would be performed, and listed on set lists, as a separate song.